Unfreeze My Heart
by Lonely.Wallflower
Summary: Val is a human girl in Mystic Falls who finds herself in the midst of the supernatural happenings despite herself. No pairing as of yet. Making the plot as I go. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

I have lived in Mystic falls all my life. It was a quiet town where everybody knew everybody, no secrets, no mysteries, no excitement. Or so I thought until the Salvatores.

Rumors started and people disappearing to turn up dead, talks about things that go bump in the night and most the adults radiated tension.

Not that I really cared. I had enough on my plate already to worry about supernaturals in little old Mystic Falls. I had bills to worry about, rent, medical bills, my job at the Grill and my studies. I had no time to even get curious about vampires and the like. However, working at the Grill, you are bound to hear rumors and gossip whether you liked it or not.

The Grill was owned by Charles Bryant, an old friend of my grandpa who moved into Mystic Falls over 40 years ago. I knew him since I was a child and he was always nice to me. When my grandpa was diagnosed with Alzheimer a couple of years ago and I dropped out of college to take care of him and get a job to pay for his medicine and doctor checkups, Charles immediately offered me a job at the Grill.

Since then I have been working as a manager, handling the finances, expenses, managing the stock, the staff, the suppliers, you name it. Charles would come in a couple of times every month to check on things but otherwise, he left me in charge of the place.

The job paid enough for me to pay for grandpa's medical needs and hire a nurse who would take care of him in my absence.

Once I was able to get my head above water, I decided to continue my education so I applied to an online college that I could afford and tried to keep up as much as I could while juggling everything else.

Sometimes, things got too much and so unbearable that I could hardly breathe and felt like crumbling. I wished there was someone to ease my burden but I had no one besides my grandpa. My mom left us when I was 2, she fell out of love with my dad and in love with some guy who took her away from Mystic Falls. She never looked back and I haven't heard from her nor about her since. My dad couldn't recover from the break up and resorted to alcohol to try to forget her until one night, he was in an accident when he was driving drunk. I was ten at the time.

It has been my grandpa and me ever since. He loved me with all his heart and we were best friends. He supported me, was there when I was sick or sad, celebrated my birthdays with me and when I graduated high school. He was my whole universe and I was his. And then he got sick. It was small things at first, he would forget what he was going to buy, or to add some ingredient to the food, then it got worse, he would forget some names, events or he would get lost. After several tests, the doctors said that it was Alzheimer, and my little uneventful life was no more.

I had to learn how to be brave, how to be tough and how to push myself to the limits. I changed from a shy naïve little girl to a young woman who has a close control over her emotions and would only open up to a select few she considers friends.

Some people would even call me cold, but I didn't care. I only cared about surviving and helping my grandpa. Sometimes though it gets lonely and I would wish I had someone to lean on. Tonight was one of those night. I could see from the office window the rest of the Grill and particularly the table in which Elena Gilbert and her friends were sitting. Elena was a really beautiful girl, therefore it was no surprise to me that many boys would fall in love with her, but the devotion that is showing in the eyes of the Salvatore brothers whenever they look at her was so achingly beautiful. I knew they were vampires and the fact that these two supposedly soulless monsters felt so much for this human girl made it even stronger.

Deep down, I really wished someone would look at me like that. I shook my head to get rid of this yearning and got back to the numbers in front of me working on the day's finances when Matt Donovan, a waiter at the Grill, Elena's ex-boyfriend and now friend, knocked on the door and said: "Val, sorry to bother you but there is a French couple outside and I can't make heads or tails of what they are saying."

Smiling softly to him, I got up from my desk and followed him to the couple in question. It was no secret that I was a bit of a language buff so this situation was not really unusual when a foreigner drops by Mystic Falls.

"Bonsoir, soyez les bienvenus au Grill. Je m'appelle Velentia et je serai ravie de vous assister avec le menu ou prendre votre commande », I said smiling to the young couple.

« Enfin, quelqu'un qui parle français », said the woman smiling widely, « on est passé par ici par tout hasard et c'est très joli donc on a décidé de passer la nuit à l'hôtel mais leur nourriture est horrible donc nous sommes venus ici »

« D'accord, est-ce que vous avez décidé ce que vous voulez manger ? »

« Oui, on vaudrait une salade César, deux steaks medium et pour le dessert, deux tranches de gâteau au chocolat s'il vous plait. »

« Entendu, on va les préparer tout de suite pour vous. N'hésitez pas à faire appel à moi si vous avez besoin de quoi que ce soit. »

« Merci beaucoup, vous êtes un ange. »

« Je vous en prie ! J'espère que vous trouverez votre séjour à Mystic Falls agréable ! » I nodded my head and turned to leave.

I barely made a few steps when I heard a voice saying "That was really good French, love. I am impressed!"

Turning around, I saw that the owner of the voice was Klaus Mikaelson. The Mikaelson family was new to town, some kind of really old evil vampires or so I heard and the Salvatores hated them with passion. I have never spoken with any of them before so his comment was rather surprising, so I nodded my head at him neutrally and said "Thank you!"

"I mean it, love, that was excellent, no accent whatsoever! Where did you learn it? I am a bit of a linguist so I am intrigued!"

I would have believed him had I not seen the way he was looking at the table where the Salvatore brothers were sitting and how he was smirking at them. Predictably, the older brother, Damon, jumped from his seat and came to us saying "Leave the girl be Klaus!"

"Oh? I was just asking a question, no need to get all ruffled about it!" Klaus replied feigning innocence.

I had no intention to be part of a tag war between two vampires, so I ignored the two males who were glaring at each other and went to Matt saying "Matt, please serve the couple Cesar salad, two steaks medium and chocolate cake."

Then I left all the drama and went back to the office not realizing the many looks that followed me.


	2. Chapter 2

I was working as usual one day when I got a call from Mrs White, grandpa's nurse.

"Hi Mrs White, what is going on?", I asked

"Val, dear, you need to come to the hospital."

"What? What is going on? What is wrong with grandpa?", I asked feeling the panic growing inside me and trying to fight it down

"He fell in the living room and hit his head against the table, I am so sorry Val, I was only gone a minute to fetch his lunch"

"How is he now?"

"He is still unconscious. The doctors are with him."

"I am coming right away.", I said before hanging up

Trying with great effort to remain calm and not to panic needlessly, I grabbed my bag and car keys and headed for the door. I stopped by the bar to let Matt know that I would be leaving. He saw me and looked at me worriedly:" Val, what's wrong? You look very pale!"

"I have to go, my grandpa had an accident."

"Is he okay?"

"I don't know, I am going to the hospital now. Just wanted to let you know and ask if you can take care of things here."

"Yes of course, go and don't worry."

"Alright, thanks Matt."

"Anytime, and call me if you need anything."

I nodded my head and rushed out the door bumping into the Mikaelson brothers as they came in. I almost dropped my purse but one of them caught it before it fell to the ground.

"Easy there love."

"Sorry about that, thank you for catching my bag.", I said reaching out to grab my bag but he wouldn't let go. I raised my eyes and I saw him smiling before he said :"You look in a hurry."

"I am", I replied, "and I am sorry but I really have to go, I would appreciate it if you gave me my bag back."

"You're gonna have to be more persuasive than that sweetheart", said the other brother who remained silent up until then.

I felt my temper flare and the panic was still gnawing inside me, I had no time for these childish games, so I looked at them both and said: "You know what? Keep the stupid bag." Then I pushed past them and got into my car speeding away to the hospital.

Once I got there, I rushed to the reception asking them about grandpa, they said he was in ICU. There I found Mrs White and once she saw me she started crying "Oh Val, I am so sorry, I am so so sorry."

"How is grandpa Mrs White?", I asked not really caring about her apologies until I knew more about the situation

"The doctor is with him right now. Oh he is coming out."

I lifted my had and I saw a doctor coming out of ICU. I ran up to him and asked "Doctor, how is grandpa?"

"He seems to be suffering from internal bleeding in his brain, we don't know how big it is yet, we'll have to do another scan in a few hours to compare the clot size. But what I am most worried about is the fall. How did he fall?"

Mrs White answered: "I don't know, he was alone at the time, just a few minutes mind you. I went to get him lunch and I heard the crash."

"So you don't know if he lost his balance or fainted, that could be an issue."

"Why?", I asked

"It could be a stroke, has he had a stroke before?"

"He had one about 30 years ago, but his health has been frail lately and he doesn't walk steadily, it is possible that he just fell, right?"

"It is possible yes, but we will know for sure after doing a scan tomorrow, we need to wait overnight before the scan can show anything."

"So, he will have to stay in the ICU?"

"Yes, the nurse will tell you what you need to know and I will be here tomorrow morning to give you updates on the case."

"Can I go in and see him?", I pleaded

He looked at me for a while before nodding "Just a few minutes."

"Just a few minutes", I agreed

Numbly, I followed the nurse's instructions and wore the outfit to get into ICU. Approaching the bed, my heart dropped at seeing the state of grandpa. His head was bandaged, his breathing was erratic, they took off his clothes and the bed cover was pulled down to his waist showing his bony chest. His eyes were closed and he didn't react even when I shakily touched his hand. I felt tears fill my eyes as I looked at him, lying there, so fragile, so broken. I don't know how long I stood by his bed but it was definitely too soon when the nurse came to take me outside. She gave me a list of items that I needed to get, mainly care and hygiene products. I took the list and went to the reception to make arrangements for grandpa's stay. When I reached to get my ID, I realized that my bag was missing and it took me a minute to remember the scene with the Mikaelsons.

I drove back to the Grill and scanned the area looking for them, I spotted them drinking at the bar so I made my way towards them. Once I reached them, I tapped the one who I remembered grabbed my bag on the shoulder saying :"Excuse me?"

"Well well, look who is here, Klaus.", said the other brother.

The one called Klaus turned around and he smirked recognizing me "Can I help you love?", he asked

"Yes, I believe you still have my bag."

"Do I?", he seemed to really want to make this difficult for me, so I sighed saying :"Look, I am really sorry for bumping into you earlier and for losing my temper and for leaving in the middle of the conversation. I am in the middle of an emergency and I really need my bag back. Please!", I apologized and looked at him waiting for his reply.

He was looking at me silently when Matt came rushing my way. "Val, how is your grandpa?", he asked

"Not well, he is bleeding internally and they also suspect a stroke. He is in ICU."

"I am so sorry Val.", he said hugging me. I accepted the hug for a second before stepping back. I was barely holding on and if I let myself be comforted, I would break down right in the middle of the Grill. Then i heard Matt ask :"Why are you here? You can't possibly be here for work, so did you need anything?"

"I actually came to retrieve my bag", I replied looking at Klaus who was following the conversation interestedly with his brother. I turned around to face him saying :"I really have a lot of arrangements to make, so please, I need my bag."

He stood up saying : "It's in my car, this way." I followed him ignoring the stares that everyone was giving us. Reaching the parking lot, he unlocked his car, opened the passenger seat and grabbed my bag. Handing it to me he said :"Sorry about giving you a hard time, love."

"That's alright, no harm done", I answered, "Thank you for giving me the bag. Goodbye!", I turned around to leave but he stopped me saying :"Do you need a ride?"

"That is very nice of you thank you, but I will be fine.", I nodded at him and went towards my car already thinking about what I needed to arrange for grandpa's hospital stay.


End file.
